Final Fantasy VII: Aftermath
by CyberTheWolf
Summary: Two decades ago, Omega was destroyed, now Midgar is a place of peace. It was the perfect place for Cloud and Tifa to raise their son, but now something is reaching out from the past...to take him with it. FEEL FREE TO COMMENT! CHAPTER 5 UP!
1. Chapter 1

Nineteen years had passed since Chaos had disappeared. Omega was destroyed and there was a great peace that had spread across the land. Midgar had become the peaceful city that it was originally meant to be. There was no more desert, no more decay, and all of the building were sturdy and re-built recently. Business was kicked off about fourteen years ago for Cloud and Tifa, their delivery business becoming the UPS of Midgar. Usually things didn't work out that way if you had a child before then.

His name was Zack. Named after a friend of his father's that had passed away some time ago. He didn't know exactly why this person was so important as to why his father would name his son after him, but he wasn't the type to ask many questions. At the age of seventeen, he was able to get pay for most of the things he helped out with in the family business, delivering random knicknacks to people throughout the city on his bike. To him, life was easy, seeing as the Mako Reactors had been up and running again, without the city's content however, so there were riots that started up outside of the Shinra building almost every day for the past few years.

He drove by, his brown hair wavering in the wind as he did. He looked like him, Zack. But the only real difference was the hair color, well that and his eyes weren't blue, but a darker green. He was wearing was his father's old uniform, seeing as it was the only thing that fit him at the moment. He was never informed of where the suit had come from, or why his father had it, or even what his father worked for. All he knew was that the pants were comfortable.

"Floor twenty-four?" he asked himself as he pulled into the parking lot of the electric company. "Top floor? The hell...?" Zack asked himself. He shrugged, it was worth it. Ten bucks compared to giving someone a box was nothing. He un-hooked the package from the back of his seat and walked to the front doors of the building, swarming with enraged civillians. "Excuse me..." he pardoned as he shimmied through the mass of people, making his way to the steel doors that blocked the way. He entered and shook his hair out, noticing a nearly empty room. A plant in the corner of the room, and a receptionists desk, but no-one was there.

He moved lazily over to the desk, leaning ontop of the counter and looking around for someone. But there was no-one. He frowned slightly, confused as to why there was nobody there, after all it was a large company. "Guess I'll take it up myself." he sighed out as he shoved himself from the desk and headed into the elevator that stood nearby. The doors opened slowly, suggesting that this part of the building hadn't been renewed quite yet. He leered his vision over to the level buttons, pressing the one marked '24' and the doors closed. He stepped back from the switches and leaned against the back wall as he felt gravity take hold of him, pushing him lightly to the bottom of the small compartment.

Soon, he was at the top floor, the doors rolling open slowly, and to his surprise, it was the roof of the building. He stepped out, taking a quick glance around he noticed he'd made a mistake. He lifted the box to his face, checking the floor number again, '24'. This was it. But where was he supposed to drop this thing off? He looked around again, there was nothing but the gray tint of the roof around him. He walked forward slowly, looking down on the city from the top. He could see everything, the buildings, the people, the cars, everything.

"Zack Strife." a voice spoke from behind him. The voice was low, dark and somewhat raspy. Zack turned around slowly, seeing a man dressed in a red cloak, his face covered by his long, black hair.

Zack gave him a skeptical look, "Who're you?" he asked as he stepped back. The man shook his head and walked forward.

"So, your father's hidden everything from you, has he?" the man asked. "What a shame, you could have been so much help to us."  
"What the hell are you talking about?" Zack asked, stepping forward with some urgency to his step. "Are you the one who ordered this thing?" he asked again, shifting his eyes to the box, then back. The man nodded. "Well then..." Zack said, throwing the box to him. "Have a nice day, sir." He then walked over to the elevator, pressing the button and waiting for the rust-bucket to get back up. Zack looked over his shoulder, trying to think of how he might know this guy, where had he seen him before? Then it came to him, when he was younger he remembered seeing him. Vincent. That was his name. "Valentine...right?" Zack asked cautiously.

The man nodded again, "That's right. I knew you couldn't be that dull as to not remember me."

Zack turned around, "What do you want with me exactly?" he grunted.

Vincent looked into the distance, pointing to a purple colored cloud that began to peak over the hills. "Zack, listen to me. The words I speak may seem a bit hard to understand at the moment, but something's after you."

"You're crazy." Zack said, moving closer to the elevator.

"You have something it needs. Something that somehow got passed from your father's genes to yours. We thought there were no more who were born with it, as a matter of fact, you may be the only one, Zack. Years back something landed here. J.E.N.O.V.A. It was something from another planet. You have something called J.E.N.O.V.A. cells in you. The reason being is because your father was a S.O.L.D.I.E.R."  
"Meaning?"  
"Your father cleansed himself of something called the stigma, it only emerged from those who had J.E.N.O.V.A. cells, it plagued Midgar about twenty years ago. Everyone was cured, but somehow you managed to get the cells. Zack, you have to come with me." Vincent said sternly, turning his attention back to Zack.

Zack looked on at the clouds, a white lightning bolt occasionally going off. "What about Mom and Dad?" he asked.

Vincent shook his head, "They knew." he said calmly.

Zack nodded. "It figures." he sighed, "But how do you know they know?"  
Vincent huffed, "Open the box."

Zack looked at it curiously, the box was long and wide. He took out his knife and opened it, looking inside he found a mess of blades that looked oddly familliar. "Dad's sword?" he asked himself. "But..."  
"Isn't that proof enough? Now come with me." Vincent said, turning around as the winds picked up, blowing his cape around as he did. Zack looked up from the blade quickly only to see Vincent was gone, and with him the purple clouds. The sun shone down on Zack, and the wind ceased itself. Questions raced through his mind like rapids through a raging storm. He then stood up and looked off of the roof, everything was how it was, there was not a thing out of place. But if nothing had happened, what was that whole episode? Where had Vincent gone?

Zack rubbed the back of his neck, what now? What was he going to do? If all of this was true, then he had something to worry about. He really couldn't doubt it all, seeing as he was now in posession of his father's buster sword. "Guess I'll put this thing together..." he sighed out as he sat down next to the box, taking out all of the blades and examining them all. He took out what looked like the main blade, gripping the handle tightly and turning it so the sun reflected onto the others. "Let's see..." he said to himself as he picked up another, fitting it into the main blade's back, locking it into position and so on. Before he knew it, there it was. He was holding the buster in his hands. He smiled as the wind blew through his hair. Zack stood up, walking back over to the ledge and looking over the city. "I guess this is...goodbye." he said solemnly as he put the buster on his back, the magnet where the straps he wore crossed holding it in place. "Yeah." Zack said to himself. "Goodbye...for now."


	2. Chapter 2

Zack walked slowly over to his cycle, to which he sat on and thought about where to leave from. After about five minutes, he decided he would leave through the train yard. The trains hadn't been operated in years, and that would mean it'd be the perfect place for him to ride off from. Although, he couldn't just leave with no supplies. He would have to visit Marlene to get some supplies before he did. Marlene was now the leader of Avalanche, seeing as Barret was too old to go and blow up reactors. That being the case, Marlene now lived with the retired mercenary righ tunder the bar that Tifa once owned.

He hopped on his bike and sped off down the streets. Everywhere he turned there was a merchant trying to sell their belongings. He noticed a woman infront of a church, she was wearing a pale blue dress, her blond hair hanging infront of her face and slightly held back by a navy-blue ribbon on the back of her head. Loking at someone this beautiful in the slums was truly something to marvel over. Seeing as no-one in the slums really lived the natural life that the other side of town did quite yet. Seeing the church, however made Zack feel guilty inside, seeing as he never really went to church. The woman walked back into the church with an empty basket. Zack was intreagued,why was she going into the church with an empty basket?

He pulled over in the empty streets and parked next to the church. He got off and shook his head, turning the corner to see inside. There she was, hunched over and picking...flowers? He shook his head again, doing a double-take. She was, straight out of the floor. A closer look revealed that there was sun shining in from a gigantic hole in the roof. He scratched his head and swayed into the room. The doors had been busted down and there was a large pond at the edge of the flower bed, probably due to some kind of freak accident. Nevertheless, he approached her, sitting in a pew a few rows behind her, watching her. Afraid to say anything, he stayed silent until she filled the basket and stood up. She took a deep sigh and looked at her reflection in the spring.

Zack tilted his head in question as he watched her. He grimmaced somewhat, coughing out a nervous cough. She turned around, gasping slightly. "H-hello." she stammered out. She backed up, "I payed rent last week, I'm pretty sure it was the right amount, allthough..." she started, watching as Zack got up from the seat and shook his head.

"What're you talking about?" he asked her.

"Oh. It's just, I thought you were with Shinra." she said softly, raising her hand to her lip.

Zack laughed somewhat. "No. Not with Shinra. I'm with Strife Delivery, or was." He sighed, "I'm Zack." he said with a casual nod.

"Sophia." the woman nodded, bowing to Zack.

He looked at her, laughing a little, "No need to bow. Remember, I'm not with Shinra."

She giggled, standing up again, "Sorry."

"Don't be."

"Well, if you're not with Shinra, what're you doing here?" Sophia asked as she walked over to him.

"Actually, I was on my way outta this dump when I saw you walking in here and..." he started, but he was interrupted by her giggles.

"Are you saying you came over here with the intent of getting a date?" she laughed out.

Zack's eyebrows raised as he blushed somewhat and shook his hand s out infront of him in detest, "No! No! That's not it!"

Sophia sighed, "So you're saying I'm not pretty?"

"No...?" Zack said, not sure what else to say. Of course she was beautiful, that was very apparent, but if he said that to her, he wasn't sure how she'd react. She looked at him with her deep hazel eyes and smiled somewhat.

"Well then? What did you come here for?"

Zack thought for a moment as his eyes traveled around the room, "To...buy a flower." he said in a stutter. A complete lie. She smiled and handed him a flower. Reaching into his pocket he felt her hand on his, looking back up she shook her head.

"No no. All you have to do is tell me the truth Zack."

Zack smiled, admitting defeat. "I..." he began, looking at her smiling face, he melted. "I..."

She shook her head, "Wanted a date...?" she laughed out again.

Zack laughed along with her, "Sure." he said simply. "But it'll have to be some other time, I'm getting outta here soon, remember?"

Sophia nodded as she set down her flower basket and walked over to the entrance of the church. "Won't be a problem, seeing as you're taking me with you, right?" she asked, turning back around to face Zack.

Zack put his hands on his hips and straddled twoard her, shaking his head, "You sure do work quick, don't you?"

She frowned and shrugged, "You don't think I'm serious?"

"Well, no." Zack said, now beleiving she was serious.

She turned back around, "Nobody takes me seriously."

Zack smiled and walked up next to her, looking down at her, "I'll take you if you really want." He said softly, the sunset hazing down on them both. "I know life in this part of town must be pretty terrible...so yeah."

Sophia grinned widely and threw her arms around Zack's neck, "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" she yelled out in joy. "I've been waiting so long to see the world! All of it's colors, all of it's people! You honestly don't know how much this means to me!"

Zack smiled and laughed a bit. "Okay. Let's get your things and we'll go."

Sophia ran quickly to grab a cloak-like scarf and her basket of flowers and then returned to Zack who was waiting next to his bike, already prepared for the ride to the train station where they would meet Barret and Marlene for the journey to find Vincent.


	3. Chapter 3

The two of them rode through the city together, Sophia's hair and cloak rustling wildly in the wind. They soon came across the area where the bar was. Zack hopped off and looked at the place, it looked more run down than ever before. He sighed, telling Sophia he'd be back momentarilly. He walked over to the door and knocked, but no-one answered. He knocked again, still nothing. He looked back at Sophia, shrugging and turning around to the back of the building. "Hello?" he asked out in search of either one of the two. There was still no response. He grimmaced and went back around to the front, walking in the door.

The lights were off and everything had an odd touch of dust and decolence to it. There were cobwebs caught up in the corners of the room and all of the stools were rusted. Zack approached one of them and looked around the back of the bar. There he found some food items. He quickly grabbed a cloth from a nearby table and swept all he could find into it, drinks, canned goods, anyhthing. Zack then stopped looting, hearing a faint noise. A whispering noise, an unwelcoming sound.

He tied the cloth to make a sack and slung it over his shoulder, walking back out from behind the bar and looking around. The room seemed to be in the same condition as it had been just a few moments ago, until he spotted something in the corner. A bundled figure that was quivering slightly. He walked over, kneeling down.

"Hello there." he said softly. The mass of quivering blanket stopped convulsing and made a whispering sound that was barely audiable. "What was that?" he asked, trying to get something out of it. It made the same series of noises again. "I can't understand you, you need to speak up." he said to it again. The figure stood up, Zack also. It then made a loud sqealing noise as it revealed it's face, or at least what was left of a face. The bottom jaw had been ripped off, leaving the tongue of a pale little girl with blood red eyes without most of her mouth hanging. Her teeth were sharp and disfigured, her hair almost as white as her skin and her small night-gown was a dusty pink shade. Zack backed up, bumping back into the bar. The small child approached him slowly, seeming to chant the same eerie thing over and over again. 'Chosen' is what it sounded like. Zack didn't know what this meant, but he knew he wasn't going to stick around to find out either.

He put a hand on the handle of the buster on his back, preparing to strike if anything else happened. Things went from bad to worse when the chil stopped moving. She made a low growling noise as cracks could be heard from her body. From the back of her shirt appeared two elongated, claw-like arms and what looked like a scorpions tail. Zack then flung the buster forward into an attack stance and pointed it at the creature before him, it's face protruding outwards more and looking more reptile-like. The creature then threw itself at Zack, screeching loudly as it did. Zack tucked under it as it flew above him. In a flashe he was back up behind it, slicing into it's side and sending it flying into the pinball machine in the corner of the room, which in turn, light up and cause a bunch of unneeded noise.

The creature was angry now, grabbing Zack with one of it's larger arms and dragging him across the wall with all of the bottled alcohol, sending glass flying all around the room as it threw him into the ground. "Damn..." Zack said weakly as he stood up wavering. Sophia, still outside had heard all of the noise and had now opened the door to see the two of them in battle. Zack looked back in time to see her as the beast charged again, "Sophia! Get outta here!"

"Hold it right there!" a voice rang out from the corner of the room. A woman stood alongside the pinball machine with a large-barreled gun. A shot went off and the next thing anyone saw was the creature collapse, making a tired sighing sound. Zack loomed over it as it's eyes rolled back into it's head. Sophia stared at the creature, her hands at her mouth. "Things've been everywhere for the past few months..." the woman said.

Zack turned to look at her. Long flowing brown hair held back by a thin pink headband, shoulderpads of a warrior, and a nimble figure encased by a blood-red jumpsuit. "Marlene?" Zack asked himself as the woman stepped forward. She nodded and smiled. "Marlene! Wait, why didn't you answer the door when I knocked then...?"

Marlene sighed, "Since those things plagued this part of town, Barret and I had to close shop and go into hiding in the old Avalanche place." she smiled, "When I heard you two fightin' I figured it was two of these things quarreling over territory. It's obvious now that wasn't what was hapening."

Zack sighed, "Obviously."

"Hm...?" Marlene questioned looking over at Sophia. "Zack, you know her?"

Zack nodded, "Yeah. Marlene, this is Sophia." he said, walking over to her and standing next to her. Sophia waved to Marlene and smiled innocently.

Marlene raised a brow, "What'd you come here for anyways Zack?" she asked him, eyeing Sophia suspicously.

"You see, we were on our way outta here and needed to get supplies, we figured you guys could help us out." he spoke lowly.

"Hmm...And how would we go about helping you out exactly? We have no food to give. Only the stuff down in the base, and there's not much there." she replied.

Zack nodded, "Well food shouldn't be an obstacle now." he said, reaching down and picking up the sack he'd dropped in the fight. "However, you could help us by telling us where Vincent Valentine lives."

Marlene sighed, "Valentine? Hmmm...if memory serves me right, he moved to New Neibleheim to help with the reactor." she looked at the two of them and smiled, "That all?"

Zack nodded, "Thank you." he said, putting the buster back on his back. Marlene nodded back and stepped over to the pinball machine, pressing a button and going down on it like an elevator. He turned back to Sophia, noticing the horrified look on her face, "You still sure you want to do this?" he asked her, concerned for her well-being. She snapped back, looking at him and giving a faint smile that anyone could clearly tell was fake. She nodded and grabbed his hand, pulling him back out to the bike.

"I'm positive." she assured him as she hopped on with him once more.

"Okay." Zack said, smiling at her from over his shoulder. He started up the engine and they revved off down the now black streets. The buildings nothing more than a feeling as they rushed by.

"Besides..." Sophia said, "If we're going to be taking on anything else like that, you'll need me by your side." Zack smiled as he heard her say that.

"Yeah..." he said. "Yeah, I will."


	4. Chapter 4

Now on their way to New Neibleheim, the duo traveled across the vast terrain that lay just outside of Midgar. Making their way through the trainyard was simple, they hopped the curb and drove along the tracks until they arrived on the outside. Both of them marveled, not knowing what life on the outside was like until now. Of course, Zack would have if his father had agreed to take him on some of the more dangerous deliveries. A subject which bothered him, a dangerous delivery? He shook the though from his mind when Sophia gripped tightly to his waist. Even though only a few hours had passed by, it seemed that they had known each other forever, talking about themselves with each other had really gotten each to open up in their own way. Sophia was orphaned at the age of ten, when her parents were brutally murdered by the last of the gangs of Midgar. Unfortunately for her, the crime stopped afterwords when the thugs were executed mercilessly by her brother, who was killed about a year later at the age of sixteen. He learned that she took refuge in the church and from there she tended the flowers, selling them on the streets. She began tio mention something about the spring, but stopped herself.

He was wondering how his parents would react to his absence. He kept telling himself over and over that they'd realize he had to, for the good of Midgar. But if they found out that he'd picked up Sophia, their position on the matter might change. However, the only person who knew that they were traveling together would be Marlene and she wasn't the type to care much about that kind of thing. But seeing as Zack is like a younger brother to her, she too may change position on the matter. He shrugged off the thoughts as his bike began ticking. "What?" he asked himself as he looked at the fuel gauge. It was blinking 'Empty'. He looked at the sky, the night still had a while before it would pass and they were in the middle of nowehere. He looked back at Sophia as the bike came rolling to a stop. "Heh..."

Sophia looked up at him with a tired face, "Forget to fill up, did we?" she asked him grogilly. Zack nodded and yawned. Sophia sighed and stretched, looking around. "Hmmm..." she let out, pondering the landscape for a place to stay for the night, seeing as they were too tired to walk the way currently. She gazed across the grassy feilds with the occasional flower and peered into the distance where she saw a pool of water. "Zack." she said, "Over there."

Zack looked in the direction she was attentive to. Perfect. It was a small patch of land encased in willow trees, providing a shelter. He nodded and got off the bike, Sophia following suit and wheeled it over to the spot, where he let it down with a thud and laid down in the lush grass. Sophia laid in a patch about five feet away from Zack and muttered something, swallowed by the sound of crickets chirping. Zack smiled somberly as he closed his eyes in the blue moonlight. It seemed to make everything more pale than it really was, excercising the true light and flexing it into what the night wanted for itself. He took in a deep breath, the scents of the grass flowing into his nostrills. Soon after, he was asleep.

Sophia opened an eye, looking over at Zack, making sure he was asleep. "Zack?" she whispered. He was, there was no doubt seeing as he was snoring so obnoxiously. She giggled lightly and stood up, walking over to the water's edge. She looked into it, seeing herself and sighed. Slowly, she dipped her hands into the water, cupping them together and collecting some, creating soft ripples along the surface of the water that distorted her figure. She splashed it on her face, rubbing it in to dry what she could. Standing up she took off her shoes and set them down at her feet. She glanced back at Zack just to make sure he was still asleep, he was, still snoring. She smiled, letting out a small breath of a laugh and stepped onto the water. Her foot rested on the surface, creating more ripples in the water below. She set her other foot on the water and stepped forward so she was in the center of the small pool. She then reached into her shirt, pulling out her locket and holding it out. "Open." she commanded. A flash of green light shone on the pool, outlining a door. There was a green aura surrounding the door to begin with, and out of it's crevices more leaked out. She opened the door, letting it all spill out onto the land, walking in and letting it close behind her.

The next morning Zack woke up, blinking a few times before he sat up, stretching into a long yawn. He rubbed his eyes and looked over to see Sophia, smiling in her sleep. He smiled and then looked over at the pool, which to his surprise had a chocobo drinking from it. He cocked a brow, extremely surprised. "Uhh..." He crawled over next to Sophia, not sure what to do. He'd heard alot about chocobos, but had never actually seen one. The tales that were told were either of a very well-temprered chocobo, or an incredibly mean one. He nudged her lightly, "Sophia, we may have a potential problem here." he said softly as not to anger the bird.

She too awoke grogilly, "Hmm? Zack? What problem?" she asked, sitting up with him. She looked around, seeing the large bird stare back at her. "Zack! What _is _that?!" she shreiked.

Zack waved his hands infront of her, bringing his finger to her lips to hush her. "It's a chocobo, I'm just not sure what to do about it yet." he said calmly. "If I can get on it, we may just be able to ride it to Neiblehiem." He got up, dusting himself off and clearing his throat. "Okay bird." he stated sternly, walking forward. "I'm gonna ride you, and you have no say in the matter." Just then another yellow bird appeared from behind one of the trees, squawking at at Zack. "Yeah, okay, or not." he said, backing up. The bird sqeaked and ruffled it's neck feathers, it's beak a bronze color. It's eyes were a deep brown, making them look nearly black.

A figure appeared from behind the trees, he had long red hair with black tips covering his eyes. Wearing a black tunic with long robe-like sleeves he walked over to the frantic bird, stroking it's feathers and hushing it back into a tame nature. He turned to see Zack and greeted him, "Hey. Sorry about Momo here. She get's a little skittish sometimes." he smiled, his pale lips moving up along his almost white skin, revealing extremely sharp teeth. "The name's Nova. You?" he asked Zack, offering a hand.

Zack, being a little dumbstruck by his appearence stuck out his hand, "Zack." he said, "Zack Strife."

Nova turned back to Momo, petting her softly, "So where exactly are you headed?"

"New Neibleheim." Sophia rang out from behind. She hopped up and walked over next to Zack. "Hello, I'm Sophia." She said in a hyper manner, giving more speed to her words than usual for someone who had just woken up. "We were on our way last night when our cycle ran out of gas." she said, turning to Zack who gave her a toothy grin as he rubbed his neck.

"I see." Nova said as the other large yellow bird came over and rubbed itself against him, cooing softly. "Well, I was actually on my way to Neibelheim from a ranch about fifteen miles from here."

"Fifteen miles?" Zack exclaimed.

"Been easy riding these two." Nova said plainly.

"You ride those things?!" Sophia asked him in a shrill voice.

Nova nodded. "I sure do. It's easy really, once you get the hang of it."

"They seem kinda mean." Zack stated blatantly.

"Not always, they're just a little thirsty is all." Nova said, watching as the bird craned it's neck down to the water and took a drink. "Hey, seeing as you two are headed up there anyways, you want a ride? I'm sure Zeus'd be happy to have someone riding him." he said. As he did the large bird piped up with a sqeual.

Zack scratched his head, "Is that a 'yes'?"

Nova nodded and smiled a bit. Hopping onto one of them. "Go on, he doesn't bite." he said as Zack and Sophia approached Zeus. He ruffled his feathers and cooed quietly. The bird bent down and Zack hopped on, helping Sophia up along with him.

"You ready?" he asked her as she put her arms around him.

"I think so." she replied shakily. "Nova." she called over to him, "How do we make them go?" Nova smiled and whistled, the birds then perked up and began running forward. "Oh."

Zack laughed as they took off, Sophia making a worried moan. They were surprisingly fast, going at least as fast as they had been going on the bike, they would be to Neibelheim in no time at all. Maybe even a day's ride would be all. Zack then sighed, no matter what obstacle, no matter what challenge, he would make it to Neibelheim. There was nothing that would stop this determination.


	5. Chapter 5

New Nibelheim. The city was almost completely wooden, besides the nails that held everything up. Unlike Midgar, this place was just recently standing once again, all that remained from the first city was the reactor. It was enough to build off of though. The trio entered toe city through the large wooden arch that read 'New Nibelheim' and looked around, smiling somewhat to themselves. They hopped off of the chocobos, Zack helping Sophia down. Nova reined them up, giving them both bags of seed to eat from. He then took them by their reins over to a small kennel-like stable so they could walk about.

"Do you know where he would be?" Sophia asked Zack as she watched his curious eyes travel about the homes. Zack shook his head, walking forward.

"No clue." he said with a sigh. "Marlene mentioned something about him helping out with the reactor, but I don't think I have clearance to get in there."

"Guess we'll look around then?" Nova said, walking up behind them. Zack turned around, shrugging to Nova.

"It's really not up to me." he said, looking over at Sophia.

She smiled, "Well, how about we wait until he gets off shift." Zack and Nova both nodded, "After all Zack, you do still owe me that date." She smiled over at him as she smiled back at her.

"Just where exactly do you want me to take you this evening?" he asked her as she grabbed his hand.

She sighed, "I dunno, what all's around here?" she asked him, looking up at him with her baby blue eyes. Nova rolled his eyes, romance made him sick. He turned around, deciding to browse some nearby shops for any random items he may need, that and he was quite hungry.

Zack looked back down at her as they started to walk alongside each other, "Your guess is as good as mine." Just then Zack noticed a sign that read 'Springs' with an arrow pointed to their left. He looked at Sophia, "Would you like to go to the springs?" he asked.

She nodded, "Like, with no swimming though?"she asked.

He smiled, "Sure."

Nova rummaged around in a basket full of bread loaves, looking to see which of them he might partake in. The bread was just something to curb his actual appetite. Unlike most, Nova had two food sources. He fished out a loaf he liked and turned around to the cashier. "Here." he said as he set it on the counter infront of him, a few flaky crumbs falling off of it. He then set the money on the counter next to it, turning around as he was rung up. His eyes wandered the place, marveling at all of the items in the shop, that is, until he saw a wanted poster with his face on it. He turned around, hearing the noise of the register and took his food, leaving the shop quickly. "But how?" he asked himself. "I've been gone for two days, they already know?" he sighed, "Ah well, the people here don't seem to be pre-occupied with anyhting but rebuilding." More cautious now, he raise his hood over his head, moving along slower than he had been.

Walking along a path that lead into the thick woods that had grown out behind the town, Zack and Sophia looked at passing signs that pointed them in the direction of the springs. It wasn't exactly an ideal date, but Zack just wanted to get her off of his back. With any luck after this, she'd leave him alone and maybe even stay in Nibelheim. The chances of that, he knew, were slim. Sophia stopped suddenly, Zack walked on ahead for a moment until he noticed her absence. Looking back at her, he shook his head and walked back to her. She was shaking now, but why?

"Zack." she whispered, pointing over to a man that was sitting on a stone, his head buried in a book.

Zack looked over his shoulder and cocked a brow, turning back to Sophia, "Yeah, so? The guy likes to read."

She shook her head, "There's something about him..." she said slowly, "But I.."

Zack huffed, "Come on, stop being rediculous. I'm sure you'll forget all about him when we get to the springs." Having re-assured her, he took her hand and lead her on, allthough she occasionally looked back at him until he was out of sight. For the next few minutes Zack thought over various reasons as to why she would have gotten frightened over a simple person on a stone reading a book. Perhaps it was a book she'd read before and disliked? No, that's no reason to get upset. Soon they stood on the lush grass, almost a teil color. He looked around as the steam from a small waterfall poured over a heart section of the land before them. Three boulders were alligned from what he could see, all of them next to one another in the water. "So..." Zack said, stepping forward onto the dewey grass.

Sophia smiled and walked over to a stump that protruded from the ground and sat on it. She looked around, not liking that she couldn't see much. She took in a hefty sigh and untied the bow in her hair, letting her blond locks hang down her back. Zack looked over at her, catching his surprise. Her hair was perfect, a nice wave in it as it hung freely about. She sighed, taking off her shoes and stretching. Zack smiled over at her, sliding the sword from his back and setting it against a nearby tree, he walked over next to her and sat on the ground. "It's...nice here." she said softly.

Zack nodded and looked around, the steam collecting on his face and creating beads of water that slowly trickled down to his neck. Sophia was thinking about finding Vincent, what he looked like and what would happen to Zack when they met. "An hour from now..." she murmered. Zack turned to look at her, "We'll go look for Vincent." He nodded and turned his attention back to the water, the soft ripple of the falls serenading him into a soothing state.

Seconds turned to minutes as they sat with each other, talking occasionally and taking in the relaxing aura of the small haven. Sophia now sat at the waters edge with her feet dipped into the pool. Zack on one of the boulders looking down upon her. Suddenly, a voice broke the calm, even though it itself was a calming tone. "_And so the child of the rebel will battle the beast, gaining trust of the goddess. Nothing shall cease my return._"

Zack looked over to the entrance of the small meadow, the man who had sat on the rock when they passed was now approaching. "Loveless?" Zack asked himself. The man closed his book and looked on, his eyes enshrouded in mystery and perhaps unfair judgement. He was wearing a crimson trenchcoat, a black shirt and pants under it. His belt carrying the same symbol as Zack's. This intreagued him, he'd never seen that symbol before, besides of couse when he'd received his uniform. Sophia stood still, frozen. She felt something about this man, something bad.

"The final act." the man said, shoving the book into his coat pocket and unsheathing the sword on his side. Zack's eyes grew wide as he watched the crimson blade slowly reveal itself.

"Sophia! Run!" Zack yelled out, looking over at his sword that lay against the tree. Sophia nodded and pulled herself from the edge of the water, looking at the man in sheer terror, then running off into the woods. Zack glared at him as he jumped off of the rock, grabbing his blade and rolling out onto the grass. "What do you want?" he asked the man, an angry tone rising in his voice. The man huffed, shaking his head.

"Acceptance." he said simply, charging at Zack, clashing and locking blades with him. "For too long I've gone in denial..."

"What does this have to do with us?!" Zack yelled out, throwing him off with a thrust of his blade. The man flew into the air and then slowly drifted back down to the ground, farther away from Zack now.

"The remnant of the goddess lies with her." he said slowly, taking in the fear in Zack's widening eyes.

"S-Sophia?" he shook his head, "No! She's just a normal girl!"

The man shrugged, "Believe what you want." He then charged Zack again, taking his blade from a lower position and swiping Zack into the air. Zack closed his eyes for a moment, feeling weightlessness and then looked to see the man flying upwards at him. He quickly met his blade with his and pushed him away. Zack then caught himself on a tree limb and balanced himself upon it, watching as the enemy bounded off of one tree to regain his composure, and then another to boost himself toward Zack once again. Zack acted quickly once again, running up the trunk of the tree to evade the oncomming attack, flipping above the man and back onto the ground, smiling with confidence. "You're beginning to irritate me..." the man said, floating down behind Zack. Out of the corner of his eye, Zack watched him. The man slashed at him, but he tucked and rolled out from beneath it and into a guarding position, holding the buster upright before him.

They stood there for a moment, staring at one another. The man then raised his blade, moving his hand slowly infront of it, making it burst into a flurry of flames. "This is the end for you boy. Perhaps, seeing as you know her, the goddess will let you into the lifestream." Lifestream. Zack knew what that was, when you die, it was where you went. He always knew that. It also served as the planets energy channel, anything worthy of the planet would end up there. Zack prepared himself, raising the blade up into the offensive position.

"Genesis!" a rhaspy tone rang out from behind Zack. He looked back, seeing a red blurr, then back to the man, hearing shots ring off consecutively as he hunched over. It was Vincent. He landed next to Zack, his gun pointed directly at the man.

"Genesis?" Zack asked, looking over at the man who was holding his shoulder. Genesis looked over at the two of them, huffing and then throwing himself into the air where he lingered for a moment.

"Pitiful humans..." he said softly, throwing his arm out to the sky, revealing a large black wing that protruded from his back. "_Nothing shall cease my return._" he said again, flying off into the clouds above.

Zack stared into the sky, stunned by what he had just seen. "Genesis."

"Zack." Vincent said to him, putting his gun back into it's holster. "I'm glad you made it."

He nodded back to him, "Yeah."


End file.
